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Yoga Tools: Satya: The truth doesn’t have to hurt.

September 22, 2016

“The truth hurts.” “You can’t handle the truth.” “Be brutally honest.” These are the things we hear about the truth, and it doesn’t exactly put honesty in a positive light. No wonder it seems easier to gloss over things, or even outright lie to ourselves and others.

But does the truth always have to be painful? Not at all. Not when you practice Satya, the Yoga Tool of compassionate honesty.

Satya is, by its Yogic definition, a more compassionate way of understanding and conveying truth. There are some truths that bring a lot of joy, others that bring pain, and all variations in between. No matter what the circumstances, there is always a path toward compassion and loving conveyance of truth. Because part of truth is in how you give it, and you should give truth in the way you would want to receive it.

There is always a path toward compassion and loving conveyance of truth.

Your own inner light, that divine guidance system known as your intuition or Satguru, can bring you to your truth. This may be a truth you have been hiding from for a long time. Satya’s component of compassion allows you to see this truth, understand why it may have been difficult to face until now, and begin to take steps to address what you’ve been hiding from. It’s gentle, but it’s effective.

How is this done? Begin with meditation. (An easy way to meditate is by focusing on the breath; you can use the Deergha Swasaam breathing practice.) It allows us to tune into that small but strong voice within that will guide us to our truth.

Then you can ask yourself how this truth can be put into action, or even ifit needs to be. Will it be helpful? Kind? And can you live your truth compassionately, the way the Buddha did? If so, then your Satya—your honesty—will be the best policy. Then we start reflecting our truth out into the world in what we say and do.

If you have any questions about practicing Satya, or any of the other Yoga Tools, please email me at info@suzancolon.net or leave a comment below.

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Good morning, beautiful people. I'm Suzan Colón, author of Yoga Mind: Journey Beyond the Physical. I'm a former Senior Editor of O, the Oprah Magazine and a Yoga instructor. I'll teach you how to bring Yoga's bliss off the mat and into your life with a 30-day program using the spiritual tools of Yoga.